


It Does Matter

by ScreechTheMighty



Series: Good news, hell just froze over [2]
Category: Mad Max Series (Movies), Snowpiercer (2013)
Genre: Character Study, Crossover, Gen, Mention of Cannibalism, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-30
Updated: 2015-07-30
Packaged: 2018-04-12 03:30:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4463783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScreechTheMighty/pseuds/ScreechTheMighty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even in a place as cramped as the Tail, it's impossible to know everyone's names.</p><p>These are the names he does know (and the one he gave away).</p><p>(Updated on 3/23/2017 as part of my Great Fic Cleansing of 2017.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Does Matter

**Author's Note:**

> As with my last crossover, there is non-graphic mentions of cannibalism. Lighter than in the last fic, but still. Living in the Tail End sucks. A bit wibbly wobbly on timeline with this one because I can't remember how long it was after people stacking hacking limbs off that Front End brought the protein blocks, but it takes place before that, but after the events of The Starving Times.
> 
> Edited this fic on 3/23/2017 to update a POV style and fix questionable grammar/sentence structure/writing in general.

 

> _Furiosa_

He didn't think it was a real name at first. Never heard anything like it before she told him.  Wasn't a bad name, just...unusual. Different.

Then again, so was she. She was just as starving as the rest of them, worn down lean by the days without real food. But the fire in her eyes burned hot and bright. It had gone out with the others. If it hadn't been for her sharp cheekbones, you'd never know. She moved with determination. Purpose. Not showing any weakness.

Furiosa. Furious.

It suited her.

 

>   _Gilliam_

That was the name of the old man who'd started it. 

When Max saw him after the incident, he was pale as the snow outside and missing both legs. His name was being spoken in hushed whispers. Reverently. Max wasn't sure if he  _revered_ the old man. But he did respect him.

"...baby's all right," Max told him. "Wanted you to know." Those were the first words he'd said in days. Barely recognized his own voice.

Gilliam weakly opened his eyes and smiled. "Good," he said. His voice was quieter than Max's. "That's good."

 

> _Valkyrie_

That was the pregnant one's name. There were other women who gravitated towards the catwalks, most older, all with unusual names. But Valkyrie was the one who engaged him the most, aside from Furiosa.

 _Fool_ , she called him. Same as Furiosa did. She never said it disparagingly, though. Stopped looking at him like she was going to gut him after the first few nights. Was the first one to see the state his knee was in and suggest a brace. She described how one looked, offered suggestions as he cobbled one together from scrap. When he gave her a questioning look-- _how do you know all of this?_ \--she only shrugged and said, "My mom had one."

He walked easier with the brace. He had her to thank for that.

 

> _Tanya_

He only saw her from a distance. Didn't speak to her for a long time. Only looked at her for longer than a few seconds that first time because he noticed she was talking to Curtis. There hadn't been as much violence since people started giving their limbs. There wasn't any reason to fear Curtis anymore. But he froze anyway.  _Get away from him, get away..._

Imagine his surprise when whatever Curtis said to her made her smack him upside the head.

Imagine his surprise when Curtis took the blow without retaliation.

He heard her name said in protest before she started tearing into Curtis verbally. It was a sight to behold, that was for sure.

Tanya. He didn't know her, but he was pretty sure he'd like her if he did.

 

> _Angharad. Capable. Toast. Dag._

Only two of the girls had been able to give their names.

The little blond said she was five, and that her name was Angharad. Knew how to spell it and everything. She had fierce eyes, a lot like Furiosa. She was the one who climbed out of the hole in the wall most often. The first one he heard ask why they couldn't leave the back of the train. No one had an answer for her.

The other one, the one with the white-blond hair, said her name was Dag. Kept insisting that was it. None of the others protested, so Max figured they'd given up trying to get a real name out of her. She was a starer, and a biter. Damn near took off Max's fingers once when he'd startled her. " _Smeg!"_ she'd spat at him as she retreated back into the hole. He had no idea where a four-year-old had learned  _that_ kind of language.

The other two had been given new names. One was called Toast, Valkyrie explained, for the piece of bread she'd been clutching when they found her. Toast was about three. Toast asked a lot of questions, too. _How come we can't leave? What's up front? Why's it so cold?_ Incessant. Worse than Angharad.

The little redhead they called Capable, because she was. Capable of sucking marrow out of old bones fast and efficiently. Capable of spotting potential danger and alerting the others before anyone else. Capable of soothing the other girls when they couldn't sleep, humming songs that no one recognized. She was a survivor. They all were.

He wished they didn't have to be.

 

> _Edgar_

It took a lot of asking around before he found out the baby had a name.

Someone who'd known the mother told Gilliam, who told Curtis, who (hesitantly) told Max. Max damn near crushed the boy's throat when he saw him again. Probably would've if Curtis hadn't spoken so quickly: "Edgar. His name is Edgar." He didn't have to clarify who he was talking about.

Max told the others that night, indirectly. Held the baby while they tried to make the scraps they'd scrounged edible. Murmured it to the baby as he slept: "Hi, Edgar."

Edgar yawned and opened his eyes. Max felt his heart fill and break all at once. "Hey," he repeated quietly. "Hey, Edgar."

 

> _Max_

He didn't speak much after they met, much less enough to reveal what his name was. So Furiosa kept calling him Fool, because he didn't give her anything else to call him.

Fool was, as she'd initially suspected, reliable. He pulled his weight despite his bad knee, got food, never raised a hand against anyone else in the group. He was gentle with the girls--quite, kind, even hummed off-key lullabies to them when they couldn't sleep. Fool had nightmares, woke up with a woman's names on his lips, sometimes passed off baby Edgar to her and walked away, not coming back for a few hours.

Furiosa had put two and two together not long after they first met, but she never asked. It wouldn't be fair.

Not too long after that first meeting, the people from the Front came back. Furiosa was the one to crawl down from the catwalks and see what they wanted, leaving the others behind. As it turned out, they didn't want anything. They were bringing something. Food.

The second people realized that, chaos broke out.

She tried to keep her footing, but got lost in the rush. She remembered falling. She remembered pain.

She remembered hands dragging her out of the crowd.

There were voices after that. There were bursts of pain as someone felt her torso, her collarbone, ran a hand over her shoulder and, eventually, popped it back into place. There was a voice, all the while: "I know. I know. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

It was the Fool.

"...doesn't feel broken but she shouldn't move..." Her vision started to re-gain focus. Fool was there, holding one of her hands and speaking to the others. "Don't know how bad it is without..."

"Girls..." She couldn't see any of the girls. She knew they tried to follow her down sometimes. If one of them had, if curious Toast or stubborn Angharad had followed her, they'd be trampled worse than she had. They'd be  _dead._

"They're okay. They're all up here. Hey..." His hand rested on her cheek. "You're okay."

Fool looked as bad as she felt: pale, shaken, trying to force a smile. She tried to tell him it was okay, but he shushed her quietly. "It's all right. Hey..." His thumb brushed against her cheek. "You're all right."

 _I'm trying to say that, Fool._ "Fool," was all she could manage aloud.

"...Max," he corrected her. "My...my name is Max." He looked away from her. Then back. Then he smiled, like his heart was shattering. "That's my name."

_Max._

She passed out not long after. When she came to, she didn't remember a lot of what had happened. They told her that Front End had brought food, and that there'd been a stampede to get to it. She'd been knocked down during the rush, but Fool and Keeper had managed to haul her out. She likely had bruised ribs and definitely had dislocated a shoulder. A lot of that had been lost in the haze of pain. But there was one thing she remembered.

"Max," she called when she saw him sitting nearby. "Hey, Max."

He looked startled at first. But when she smiled, he smiled back.

_Max._

Now she knew.

**Author's Note:**

> I cannot. Believe. This is becoming a thing with me. I cannot. (Also may have to go back and write more context of Max getting close to the girls/Furiosa but yeah.)


End file.
